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Neither has autocephaly, or full independence.

The former head of Moldova's Constitutional Court said the criticism of Moscow was part of a bid by the Russia-linked church to secure autocephaly.

As many Ukrainians sought to shed Russian dominance after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Kyivan Orthodox Church of Ukraine was granted autocephaly by Constantinople, which oversees most modern Orthodox churches, causing discord with Moscow which considers it a usurper.

In 2019, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, granted complete independence, or autocephaly, to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

Bartholomew recognised the autocephaly of the Church of Ukraine in 2019, triggering a split with Moscow.